About Betty Rocker

Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here.

I am a C.H.E.K. (Corrective Exercise and High-performance Kinesiology) certified Exercise Coach, a Nationally Certified Structural Integration Practitioner (realignment of the body through manual therapy), an ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association) certified fitness nutrition practitioner, and an all around fitness motivator and champion of personal growth.

I’ve written multiple cookbooks, and nutrition and fitness plans that have been successfully used by thousands of people. You can browse my programs right here.

I work with people all over the world, helping them transform from the inside out.

I created The Betty Rocker to empower you to live your life as the best version of YOU – to help you develop more confidence, deepen your inner strength, and make choices that not only make you proud of yourself but that you want to model to others.

I’m here to share the knowledge I have to help you make the best choices for yourself, so you can achieve the result you’re looking for while enjoying yourself along the way.

My passion for fitness and health developed after treating my body very badly for many years and choosing to educate myself and do the work to develop good practices based on science, my own intuition and a deep love and compassion for other people who were struggling as well.

That compassion comes from the compassion I had to grow in myself to own my own fears and overcome the inner resistance and negative self talk I struggled with for years. One of my daily affirmations is "I am compassionate with myself and others" because I believe that to be in integrity I must practice on myself the things I talk about and tell others.

Growing up, I had a LOT of questions about what it meant to be healthy.

I used to think it was the size of my clothes, or my weight on the scale.

But the more I focused on those things, the more problems I had!

My weight fluctuated a lot - and despite my very consistent, active lifestyle and eating what I thought was a healthy diet, I couldn't figure out why the flab wouldn't come off my belly, and why sometimes I'd be up as much as 20-30 pounds.

I developed some pretty bad alcohol, drug and food addictions that probably came in large part from the lack of control I felt over my body, and my deep insecurities about how I measured up in a world that seemed to judge me for being either "smart enough" or "pretty enough" - but I didn't give up.

I studied, I learned, and I conquered - and I'm here to share the ride and help you do the same thing!

What's Behind the Name "Betty Rocker?"

Someone asked me recently why I named my company "Betty Rocker" and why I use that name.

Growing up I got called "Punk Rock Betty Crocker" a lot, but I actually chose "Betty Rocker" for a different reason.

A lot of people who follow me have the impression I'm like this "rock" of a person, lol that's my name, right Betty "Rock"er - and a lot of the reason I chose this name for my brand is because I do want to be like a rock for the people I take care of and model to - but it's also because "Betty" to me was always like the universal word for a cool girl, like "she's a Betty" - and Rocker wasn't for Rock n' Roll, it was for being able to ROCK at life.

I wasn't always very sure of myself, and I wanted to be. I wanted to learn more and be more confident and make the best choices I could.

Choosing "Betty Rocker" felt a lot like choosing a name ANYONE could be, any girl who wanted to feel like she could totally rock at anything she wanted to.

And it also felt like choosing something I could affirm to myself that I wanted to be true.

Like I wanted to BE a total rockstar in the kitchen, have a healthy body and live a life of integrity and purpose.

To me, every time I said that name, it felt like I was leaning into the best version of myself, and something that connected me to all the other women out there who were also striving to grow, transform, evolve, thrive and ROCK their life. We're all Betty's. We all can Rock.

So just know that while I may be THE Betty Rocker, YOU are a Betty Rocker too, and you can ROCK in any way you choose.

Why I love Fitness....

I love working out. It grounds me. I was a runner for years. I grew up doing gymnastics and ballet, and I enjoy a multitude of fitness styles. I love body weight exercises, Olympic lifting, circuit training, explosive cardio, kick boxing, and all kinds of exercise.

I was a structural alignment practitioner for many years, running a traveling business where I treated athletes, motorcycle racers and all kinds of active people. It was my racing clients who first started asking me for more a nutrition plan, and the amazing results they got that initially inspired me to write the Body Fuel System.

As a C.H.E.K. exercise coach, form and function are at the top of my list when it comes to putting challenging workouts together - and you'll learn a lot about your body watching my workout videos and integrating the form tips.

I'm really into Traveling.....

I'm a traveler at heart,born with the wanderlust and an innate curiosity and interest in people and cultures.

I was an anthropology major at Tufts, my first college stint, and tackled journalism and nutrition at FIU (Florida International University) several years later. I've lived and worked in Alaska, traveled all over the world - but my all time favorite place is yet to be determined!

I love Cooking....

I learned pretty traditional baking and cooking methods growing up - and we had a garden and shopped at the co-op so I got to appreciate the value of good quality food from an early age.

My primary focus at Tufts University (which I attended on af full academic scholarship - I felt very fortunate!) was nutrition in indigenous cultures.

I left college to travel and pursue hands-on learning, because I just could not seem to sit in the classroom for very long! I traveled around the world, observing, eating and interacting with people in the Czech Republic, Croatia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

When I returned to the US, I continued my education at Florida International University in Miami, studying communications, because I wanted to write and share my knowledge...but I got restless again and moved to Colorado where I started studying science and biology to get more in depth into how the body and food interconnect.

My sort of crazy all over the place journey with my education was really influenced by what was going on in my personal life.

The more I learned about food and nutrition - especially in school - the more confused I got about how to eat! There seemed to be an insane amount of mixed messages about diet, food and how the body works.

The subjects you'll find on this blog (and more in depth in any of my healthy eating programs) cover the key concepts that I have studied, applied and that have had the greatest impact on creating healthy habits and overall sustainable fitness.

I never thought I'd write a book about healthy eating, but after Whole Foods market contacted me a year into my blog because a store employee credited me for her remarkable weight loss (she lost 50 pounds), I got really serious about learning and sharing the concepts I had been applying to my cooking that had made such an impact on my own health.

Gluten, a protein found in wheat. can be tough for the body to break down. In small amounts, it may be fine, but by and large, people eat a ton of foods that contain it. Combined with the many other irritating substances in the American diet, our gut gets overloaded and creates a state of inflammation. Prolonged inflammation weakens our immune system, interrupts natural digestive processes, and has been linked to a number of diseases and illnesses.

Reducing your intake of gluten - and other tough to digest proteins - can have a big impact on your waistline, your energy levels and your ability to digest food and break down fat...but MORE IMPORTANTLY, learning to properly prepare your food is what will have the biggest effect.

2. Grain preparation.

Among the interesting things I've studied, there is actually a "right" way to prepare your grains so you can absorb all their vital nutrients, and ensure they're not actually contributing to inflammation and stripping vital nutrients from you body.

Grains also contain a variety of enzyme inhibitors that can interfere with digestion and put stress on the pancreas, sugar complexes the body can’t break down, hard to digest proteins like gluten, and irritating tannins.

These substances are not meant to harm us, they are part of the plants’ protective adaption to ensure they do not sprout until conditions are favorable. They need a little warmth, time and a bit of acidity to sprout properly. To utilize all of the nutrients they contain, simply prepare them in a way that imitates Nature’s process – with a little warmth, time, and slight acidity by soaking, sprouting or fermenting them.

All of these SIMPLE processes allow for the breakdown of the phytic acid, and effectively begin pre-digestion of the grain. So that your body can easily digest, absorb and assimilate the nutrients and fiber in the grain and deliver long-lasting stable energy to you.

Modern cooking is all about quick and easy, which means grains are being eaten with phytic acid intact. Traditional cultures and indigenous people knew better - soaking, sprouting or fermenting grains easily breaks this down, making the grains far more nutritious.

3. Balancing blood sugar.

The trouble with all this quick and easy modern cooking is the ever-increasing supply of processed, packaged, and fast foods. Foods that contain refined sugars and flours lack the fiber and minerals that slow down their absorption in our bodies, which causes blood sugar to spike rapidly.

When your blood sugar levels rise (or fall) too quickly, a hormone cocktail that triggers fat storage occurs. Eating a balance of whole foods, eating regularly, and keeping the processed junk to a minimum is a great way to get in shape - fast!

4. Food Prep.

Aka Cooking. I'm a big fan of food prep. I wish I had time to cook more, but it's tough - so the way I balance flavor with the daily demands on my time is batching my cooking in one main session. I usually choose a few staple recipes, and spend a day shopping, cooking and setting it all up in my fridge so I can grab and go throughout the week.

Have one every day. We just don't eat enough greens! If you prefer juicing, I'm not going to debate with you. As long as you're using green smoothies or juice as a part of your daily intake (not doing some crazy prolonged juice cleanse) than I'm all about it.

It's such a quick and convenient way to get a major dose of greens in my body. I like to add protein powder to my green smoothies and they often double as a small meal replacement when I'm on the go. Get my green smoothie recipes.

What is "Fitness Food?" and do you count calories?

"Fitness Food" is how creating recipes and meals that combine the macronutrients - that's carbs, protein and fats - with the micronutrients - vitamins , minerals and awesomeness in greens - in simple to prepare, tasty recipes that satisfy the palate and support the active body.

I don't actually count or track calories as I just find it more effective and sustainable to enjoy eating without worrying about a number, and that the body burns fat naturally when we are focused on whole, nutrient dense foods eaten in balance.

It can be very useful to track calories for a short term period for sure, and it will definitely teach you about what your foods are composed of - but I have found it's easy to get too focused on the calorie and less focused on how the body FEELS - full, hungry, what is its reaction to the foods we are eating - when we endlessly count count calories.

It's really easy to do - check out the many recipes on the blog for inspiration, and for a more detailed plan to follow get one of my healthy eating plans that includes all kinds of nutrition information that I've compiled to make it easy to "digest.